Veteran Voice Signs On

DAYTONA NOTEBOOK

Veteran auto-racing announcer Allen Bestwick has joined NBC Sports and will work the inaugural Jiffy Lube Miami 400 in November.

Bestwick is the lead play-by-play announcer for Motor Racing Network, the radio company that broadcasts most NASCAR events to more than 500 affiliates across the United States.

"We're very excited to add such a recognizable and well-respected announcer to our NBC team," said Tom Roy, executive producer of NBC Sports. "It was our goal from the moment we became involved with NASCAR to find the best announcers in the business to help bring the excitement of the sport to the fans."

This year's Jiffy Lube 400 will be NBC's first stand-alone live coverage of a NASCAR event. It will be the next-to-last race on the 34-event Winston Cup Series and will take place at the Miami-Homestead Motorsports Complex on Nov.14.

Gatorade to greatness?

In the 78 Gatorade 125 races since 1959, only six winning drivers have gone on to win the Daytona 500.

Dale Earnhardt was the most recent driver to do it when he won last year's 500. He joined Fireball Roberts (1962), Cale Yarborough (1977 and 1984), Bill Elliott (1985), Bobby Allison (1988) and Sterling Marlin (1995).

Earnhardt is confident he can do it again. As Thursday's postvictory news conference ended, reporters were asked whether there were more questions for Earnhardt.

"Save some for Sunday," Earnhardt said. "We're going to work hard to be back here, guys."

Lineup falls into place

Ernie Irvan, Joe Nemechek, Kenny Wallace, Wally Dallenbach, Dave Marcis and John Andretti claimed positions 31-36 for having the overall fastest speeds of the drivers who didn't qualify by finishing in the top 15 of both Gatorade 125s. ...